Commentary: So, if you know me, Jordan Ray Correll, or my friend, Seth Quackenboss, then you know that we often get ourselves into ridiculously wacky situations, especially when we're together.

Yesterday was one of those days.

We decided to drive down to Fayetteville in order to hear a certain orange politician speak.

Yes, you guessed it. We went to a Donald Trump rally.

Now, I am not a supporter of Mr. Trump in any way, shape, or form. I'm quite inclined to a certain berning sensation that I've been experiencing for some time. But that's beside the point.

The point is, we thought that we were in for a time of jokes and hilarity. And at the beginning, it was.

There were a few speakers before Trump came out and they were not well organized at all. They were comical.

One man, a veteran, said that he had shed blood on 7 continents. And unless I missed the great Antartica War, I highly doubt that's true.

Let it be known for the record, that I am not against veterans in any way shape or form. I just thought that particular comment was funny. Because I doubt he actually wounded someone in Antarctica. But a more plausible explanation would be that he was doing penguin research and accidentally pricked a penguin and it bled. Anyway...

One speaker also said that we needed to get rid of 911 calls and we all need to handle our problems ourselves. Well...that's highly unlikely. I can't imagine that people will start forgoing 911 calls when their house in burning down in order to try and extinguish the fire themselves. But, ya know, it's a nice thought.

So those were my laughable moments.

Trump was about to come out. We had our signs ready. We were going to go all out. Yelling and screaming and whatnot. Because, why else were we there if not to join the spectacle?

He comes out.

People go crazy.

For the first twenty to thirty minutes I sat there with high expectations of hilarity. After half an hour, my feelings turned extremely grim. I was scared and upset.

Let me explain.

Trump basically said the same few things the whole time. He knows exactly what will get a cheer from the crowd and he says it.

He mentioned his wall several times. About five or six if I can remember correctly.

At one point he said "We're going to build a wall. And who's going to pay for it?" And the crowd yelled, "Mexico!" and then they lost their minds.

Now, we all know exactly why this is stupid. So I won't elaborate.

It was just very unsettling. He mentioned ISIS several times. About ten. But not exactly how to stop ISIS. Just comments like, "We're gonna get ISIS," and "ISIS is going down." Blanket statements.

He did say that for America to win again (any sort of winning, not just against ISIS) we have to go outside of the law and he isn't afraid to do it. And that's unsettling for several reasons. But I'm just reporting the facts.

And that was all he said on policy. Completely void of content or substance.

Just statements that would get the crowd cheering.

Now, let's talk about the protesters.

There were many.

I think throughout the hour long rally, there were roughly 15-20 groups of protesters. Some of them were individuals and some were in groups. They popped up throughout the rally here and there.

And some of them were yelling and causing a raucous but some of them were just standing there with their anti-Trump shirts or their pro-whoever else shirts.

They were all removed.

Peaceful or violent.

One man had a shirt that said "Love is the answer," and he was thrown out. Trump's comment on this man was, "And love is very important but I mean, who's making love to that guy?"

And my stomach churned.

A few minutes later, a woman stood up not far from where the other man was and started protesting. She was removed.

Trump's comment was, "She was with the other guy. They're actually a couple. A *clears throat* beautiful *gagging noises* couple." And the crowd laughed and cheered. It was horrifying.

But out of everything I saw, the crowd was the worst part.

I have never seen more hateful people in my life. Everyone was just filled with so much hatred. If a protester had a sign, even the peaceful ones, they would take the sign from them, rip it up, and throw it back at the protesters.

Whenever a protester would get removed, the crowd would yell horrible things.

Once, after a protester was removed, Trump said, "Where are these people coming from? Who are they?" A lady, sitting not 5 feet from me, said, "Well hopefully when you're president, you'll get rid of em all!" Get rid of them? Get rid of anyone who opposes Trump? It was sickening.

I felt truly nauseous. And these people loved the protesters.

They loved the drama and the chaos. And Trump fed upon it. It was easily one of the strangest and uncomfortable things I've ever witnessed. I could just hear the horrible things being spoken around me and it made my skin crawl.

Needless to say, there was very little laughter on my part.

I thought this was going to be joke...and it was, but for a very different reason.

I implore you, if you're thinking about voting for Trump, reconsider.

You are only promoting chaos and hatred.

I witnessed it firsthand.

And trust me, this is not something you want to see in person.

This is not what you want to happen to our country.

But I'll leave you with this picture we took with our souvenir.

The image above was taken just before I lost all innocence and faith in humanity.

This Yorkshire woman. credits Americans with more sense than to fall for Old windbag Trump. But it does need you all to get out and vote when it is your turn.

Reply

Steven Gibbons

12/3/2016 10:24:40 pm

The humour is fading on this now.
There are people writing jokey poems on twitter about Donald Trump,but he is a truly awful man,who wants to bring together disparate and desperate people together to be as hateful as possible towards the vulnerable,the poor,the foreign,the black,women (I don't get the mindset of a woman who a) finds him physically attractive b) finds him manly or c) could think he has any respect for women as anything other than objects).
Other Republican candidates have been awful in the past (the current crop are deeply reactionary,deeply uncharismatic and intellectual lightweights) but to have a frontrunner who is so completely hateful,and who sounds so incompetent is deeply troubling.

Reply

B. McPherson

13/3/2016 02:55:01 am

I can only hope that the American citizens choose wisely. Informative and awful at the same time hearing first hand from an attendee at one of those hate fests.

Support NEWTEK - Like what we do here at NEWTEK? If so, you should consider supporting us…Running a news based website is fun, time consuming and can be costly. If you would like to help the site keep afloat please use the donate button​